Arriving in San Sebastian
San Sebastian is one of Spain´s most beautiful cities, it is also known as Donostia.
The city is in the north of the Basque Country, on the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay. San Sebastián´s picturesque coastline makes it a popular beach resort. Adding to the seaside environment, it enjoys easily accessible hilly surroundings.
Sitting at the mouth of the River Urumea, Donostia has been built to a large extent over wetlands of the river during the last two centuries, with the city´s downtown lying on such terrain and the former bed of the river diverted to its current canalized course (first half of the 20th century).
Tradition and modernity go hand in hand in this "small" big city with touches of the Belle Époque (Golden Age) that has a top-flight cultural agenda with its international film and jazz festivals and its first-class cultural programme.
More than that, San Sebastian is the world capital of the pintxo. Gastronomy rivals nature as the most attractive feature of this city that´s world famous for its cuisine and chefs, and boasts 16 Michelin stars.
By plane
San Sebastián has 3 airports just over 100 km of the city:
San Sebastian Airport: Only 20 minutes from the city centre, it has connections to the major Spanish cities; Madrid and Barcelona, from these cities you can take the train to San Sebastian (timetables are available at RENFE)
Bilbao Airport: It has connections to all Europe, 100Km to San Sebastian.
Bus connecting to San Sebastián every hour. Check the information in the following link >here.
Biarritz Airport: It is served by French and international low-cost companies, 50km to San Sebastian. The easiest way to travelling to San Sebastian is by taxi (the service may cost arround 100€)
Some taxi companies offer services from these three airports to San Sebastian, you can contact them directly and pre-book your taxi before arriving to the airport.
Taxi companies:
Vallina Taxi
Radiotaxi Donosti
By train
The train station in the centre of San Sebastián, the "Estación del Norte", offers connections to numerous Spanish cities including Madrid and Barcelona, and to international destinations such as Paris and Lisbon.
By car
Getting to San Sebastián by car is extremely easy. The city is connected to the rest of Spain and France by the N-1 (the national highway connecting Madrid to Irun), the AP-8 (Bilbao-Irun) and A-63 (Paris-Irun) motorways and the A-15 highway (Pamplona-San Sebastián).
Once in San Sebastián, you can leave your car in one of the more than 6,000 parking places found in different parts of the city.
